Books
The Romance at the Fiber Guild series is up to eight books and counting. These will be released over the next months. Books I, II, and III are available for sale now. The others will be coming soon, so stay in the loop!
BOOK ONE
Romance at the Fiber Guild I: The Ancestor
When college junior and knitting enthusiast Jeff Nietmann seeks escape from his lonely ways by joining the Flatlands Fiber Guild, he stumbles on a tangled web of mother-daughter relationships that complicate his love life.
Unraveling the strands of affection and remorse connecting the mothers with the daughters who try to steal Jeff’s heart involves more than just a spair of knitting needles. It requires supernatural help from a remarkably resourceful ancestor.
“The Ancestor is a colorful tapestry of authentic, likeable characters, woven by skillful and loving hands. The novel leaves me completely invested in this heart-warming story and more than just a little curious to learn more about Jeff, Laurel, and their friends at the Fiber Guild.”
—Stephanie Leppert, Journalist
BOOK two
Romance at the Fiber Guild II: L’enfant terrible
When art professor Astrid Karlsen meets the talented spinning enthusiast, Benjamin Letellier, at her monthly fiber guild meeting, she insists that the Frenchman enroll in her program at Great Plains University.
But when he arrives on campus, she learns he failed a criminal background check. Her daughter’s attraction to the drug-using raver arouses Astrid’s dread. Meanwhile, strange things happen in downtown Prairie Plains, where anonymous crochet muralists transform a burned-out plaza into a vibrant community gathering site. While the miraculous murals prove a potent balm for the grieving mother’s heart, Astrid’s desire to out the anonymous artists is as strong as her determination to wrench Sigrun away from the suitor leading her down the path of perdition.
“Reading L’enfant terrible was a moving and inspiring experience. The complexity of emotions in the novel set you up for romance, but also reflection. As the series continues, the characters have become special to me.”
—Angie Cleberg, Communications Coordinator, United Way
BOOK three
Romance at the Fiber Guild III: The Way Forward
What do you do when a delinquent from a foreign country gets your daughter pregnant? Threaten him with deportation and hit him as hard as you can, of course.
Unless it turns out he isn’t a delinquent at all, but the guy who’s bending over backwards to rescue your son from his alcoholism, nurture your daughter’s tallest ambitions, and build a vital community through his brilliant fiber art. In this case, you make amends, and do everything possible to support the father of your grandchild in his quest to stay in the United States. And you dread the outcome if “everything” turns out not to be enough.
“A cozy story filled with warmth, heart, and romance. With beautifully crafted characters, readers will feel as though they are living through each moment alongside them—sharing in their journeys, challenges, and joys. As the story unfolds, multiple threads come together in a satisfying and meaningful way. This novel is a part of a series, yet perfectly enjoyable on its own, and immerses readers in a wonderful world. It’s a comforting and engaging read from beginning to end.”
—Jenia Golden, Translator
BOOK FOUR
Romance at the Fiber Guild IV: The Spinning Wheel Maker
Benjamin Letellier purchased the 1890s mansion for a pittance. But the withered edifice proved to hold numerous treasures left behind by the cabinetmaker who’d built it, including three ornate spinning wheels as old as the mansion itself. What had prompted a founding father of Prairie Plains to invest his skills in making these exquisite devices for spinning wool into thread?
Fortunately for the Letelliers, Lemuel Kunz, the maker in question, left copious clues behind, scads of letters and journals written in old German script. As the homeowners embark on a quest to decipher Kunz’s correspondence and learn how romance moved him to become a master maker of spinning wheels, they involve Benjamin’s brother-in-law, young Lars Karlsen, who is on a quest of his own. In an effort to quell the self-doubt inflicted on him by the homophobes who’ve been bullying him, Lars sets out to prove his own worth by replicating Kunz’s feat. With any luck, his father will look past his homosexuality if he succeeds in using Kunz’s own nineteenth-century woodworking shop to build a spinning wheel that is every bit as ornate and functional as those of the master himself.
BOOK FIVE
Romance at the Fiber Guild V: Universal Design
Three fledging students cross paths in a struggling mall in the middle of Prairie Plains: an attractive coed from Chicago who recently became blind, a jilted lover from Norway, dumped after failing to get into music school, and his bodybuilding cousin, who’s made a career of hiding his sexual orientation from his parents.
As Kasper realizes his growing desire for the gorgeous Nicole, his reserved nature proves a hindrance in the face of his American cousin’s affinity for the girl who, like Lars, is a recovering bullying victim. No problem for Nicole—she has not one, but two eager youths helping her adapt to her new, independent existence in Prairie Plains, and the avid knitter soon finds herself sucked into the yarny world of Lars Karlsen, the son of a fiber arts professor who manages a yarn store. What could be more natural than that Nicole should come on board as an employee at his shop? As Lars invokes universal design to integrate his new best friend into his shop, Dee’s Yarn & Fiber Emporium is transformed into a destination experience for fiber lovers, whether they’re able-bodied or not. Keen not to be outcompeted by his cousin for Nicole’s attention, Kasper turns to music to court the alluring object of his affection. And this might even do the trick, were it not for the distraction of Nicole’s troubled younger sister, who responded to her journey into blindness with potent and hurtful displays of rejection. It seems moving forward for Nicole and her friends requires first that they overcome the demons lurking in their past.
BOOK SIX
Romance at the Fiber Guild VI: Knitting While Blind
To say that Dana Bentley reacted badly while her sister was going blind would be an understatement. And now the consequences of the whole miserable nightmare she brought on herself were slamming her in the face.
Expelled from college and facing probation, she has to crawl back to her family in Chicago and beg them for help. And beg her sister for forgiveness. It never occurred to her that the very sister she’d kicked to the curb a short time ago could be her staunchest ally in getting her life back on track as a student at Great Plains University. But Nicole actually needed her, and that need ends up being the answer to Dana’s own prayer for a chance to prove herself—as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend. And perhaps most surprisingly of all, even as a knitter!
BOOK SEVEN
Romance at the Fiber Guild VII: No Room for Grief
After Nicole Bentley is thrust into the role of shop manager at Dee’s Yarn & Fiber Emporium, her frantic search for an employee to assume her previous role ends in the hiring of a mysterious woman on a quest to find her estranged son.
As the mysteries surrounding Vandana Paxton mount up, Nicole responds to her mother’s concerns that she’s overstretching the limits imposed on her by her blindness by lying about her work. More sparks fly as Dana Bentley becomes the sudden object of Simon Balakumar’s attentions, the non-binary accountant employed by the mural workshop where they all crochet for Yarnstormeur. Things come to a head when the Bentley girls’ mother descends on Prairie Plains to check in on them—and finds that they’ve been up to a good deal more besides knitting, crocheting, and studying!
BOOK EIGHT
Romance at the Fiber Guild
VIII: The Mentor
If there’s one thing Nicole doesn’t need, it’s chaos. Managing Dee’s Yarn & Fiber Emporium demands a careful touch, and she must pull out all the stops to avoid letting her blindness undermine her success. So when a local couple brings their blind teen to the shop with the expectation that Nicole should add mentoring him to her very full slate, she decides to tell them “no.” Of course, Sterling Hochstetter tugs on her heartstrings. How can she say no to a fellow blind person?
But the complications quickly mount. Her new employee takes a shine to Sterling. Nicole is behind on her wedding preparations. And when her sister gets married in a ghost town, the inevitable happens: they’re haunted. To top it all off, Nicole learns she’s not the only member of her family with the gene for blindness, placing further demands on her mentoring skills. All hell breaks loose when the ghost dog who helped turn Dana’s wedding into a paranormal circus shows up in Prairie Plains, providing “The Mentor” with a surprisingly helpful, supernatural sidekick.